How Our Canyons Affect Equity, Climate Action Goals, and Community Engagement with Eric Bowly of San Diego Canyonlands

The Finest City

This episode features Eric Bowlby, Executive Director of San Diego Canyonlands, as part of the Knowledge to Action series. San Diego Canyonlands is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and restoration of San Diego’s canyons and creeks through ongoing education and community engagement. Eric talks about how our canyons play a very important role in battling climate change, how you can get involved in good stewardship of our canyons, and you’ll hear a great musical surprise from Eric and Canyon Landers at the end of the conversation.

Timestamps:

[1:25] Eric introduces himself.

[1:55] Why is San Diego remarkable for its canyons?

[4:03] The history of the Canyon Friend groups and why they are important.

[6:02] Who owns our canyons, and what are the implications of that ownership?

[7:31] The development pressures in the 1980s, specifically, the practice of scraping the top of mesas for big developments, how that tied into the creation of Canyon preservation groups.

[9:21] More details about why and how the San Diego Canyonlands nonprofit organization was formed.

[11:00] Restoration is a big part of San Diego Canyonlands’ mission, and our canyons seem to be magnets for invasive plant species. Why is it important to remove those plants?

[14:59] How does the homeless population affect the canyons, and what can we do about it?

[15:17] What is San Diego Canyonlands doing for nature-related classroom outreach?

[19:18] What about equity and climate action goals?

[21:44] What is the Canyonland Enhancement Planning Committee and what does it do?

[24:02] The connections between C3 and the Canyonlands, along with the working relationship between River Park foundations and organizations.

[27:42] How can someone get involved?

About C-3

In its 60 years of existence, Citizens Coordinate for Century 3 (C-3) has brought together local thought leaders from planning, design, policy, academia, community development, and more to address our region’s distinctive and pressing land use challenges. In founding C-3 almost 60 years ago, architect Lloyd Ruocco’s vision was to bring together our region’s most creative minds from the arts, sciences, academia, and government to share ideas, learn new perspectives, and build fellowship around the idea of creating livable communities.

Opportunities for Advocacy and Engagement:

C3sandiego.org

San Diego Canyonlands